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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SONGS OF INNOCENCE: INTRODUCTION, by WILLIAM BLAKE Poet Analysis Poet's Biography
First Line: Piping down the valleys wild
Last Line: Every child may joy to hear.
Variant Title(s): Child And The Piper;the Happy Piper;pipe A Song;reeds Of Innocence;a Song Of Singing;the Piper
Subject(s): Bible; Imagination; Innocence; Music & Musicians; Mythology; Pipers; Vision; Fancy
First Line: Piping down the valleys wild
Last Line: Every child may joy to hear.
Variant Title(s): Child And The Piper;the Happy Piper;pipe A Song;reeds Of Innocence;a Song Of Singing;the Piper
Subject(s): Bible; Imagination; Innocence; Music & Musicians; Mythology; Pipers; Vision; Fancy
PIPING down the valleys wild,
Piping songs of pleasant glee,
On a cloud I saw a child,
And he laughing said to me: --
"Pipe a song about a lamb:"
So I piped with merry cheer.
"Piper, pipe that song again:"
So I piped; he wept to hear.
"Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe,
Sing thy songs of happy cheer:"
So I sung the same again,
While he wept with joy to hear.
"Piper, sit thee down and write
In a book that all may read --"
So he vanished from my sight;
And I plucked a hollow reed,
And I made a rural pen,
And I stained the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear.
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